Impressions of Belgrade and Serbia (and some occasional vacation photos!) by a long-term ex-pat.
NOW IN SEATTLE FOR A WHILE....

Thursday, October 9, 2008

A Politician with a Sense of Humor

Nikola Pašić (PA-sheech) 1845 - 1926, was a politician and diplomat. He was the most important Serbian political figure in the country for almost 40 years, twice mayor of Belgrade (1890-91 and 1897), several times prime minister of Serbia (1891-92, 1904-05, 1906-08, 1909-11, 1912-18) and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the future Yugoslavia) 1918, 1921-24, 1924-26). He was also an important politician in the Balkans who, together with his counterparts in Greece and Romania, managed to strengthen their small, still emerging national states against strong foreign influences, most notably from Austria, Hungary, Turkey, and Russia. This is all quite admirable in itself, but Pašić was also known for his sense of humor. I wonder if he'd think it was funny that there's often a pigeon on his head.

He sounds like a fine man who would have approved of the pigeons perch. I think Serbians have a better understanding of history than the UK does now. The phrase" before my time"is the lazy persons riposte.

Smile!

Who am I?

I'm an American woman who's lived and worked in Serbia for over 35 years. I've come to love the people with all their idiosyncrasies, and created this blog to help break some of the negative press about Serbs. I take requests for photos!